His college, with its 11,000 faculty members and students, is one of the first occupants of Carlsberg Byen, or Carlsberg Town, a $2 billion redevelopment
that is central to Copenhagen’s ambitious plan to be the world’s first carbon-neutral capital city within a decade.
The project is part of plans to turn Copenhagen into the world’s greenest capital
city, which local officials say will be the first ever to be carbon-neutral.
Just months ago, Mr. Jakobsen, the rector of University College Copenhagen, was sitting
in a suburban campus between parking lots and a residential neighborhood.
When buildings are torn down, more than 96 percent of the materials are recycled
and used to help assemble new structures, both in Carlsberg Byen and elsewhere.
“One may smile at green rooftops, but they send a signal that this building isn’t just a block of concrete,” Mr. Jakobsen said.
Rooftops are covered with solar panels or gardens that collect rainwater for reuse,
while ground water is used to cool buildings through air-conditioners.